Michael Jackson And His Process Writing ‘We Are The World’ Alongside Lionel Richie

March 03, 2020

“I used to ask my sister Janet to follow me into a room with interesting acoustics, like a closet or the bathroom, and I’d sing to her, just a note, a rhythm of a note. It wouldn’t be a lyric or anything; I’d just hum from the bottom of my throat. I’d say, ‘Janet, what do you see? What do you see when you hear this sound?’ And this time she said, ‘Dying children in Africa.’ ‘You’re right. That’s what I was dictating from my soul.’” – Michael Jackson on the process of writing “We Are The World” with Lionel Richie. The song won the People’s Choice Award for favorite song in 1986.